Postal ballots have been dispatched to 6,77,233 Bangladeshi citizens residing overseas for the upcoming 13th national election and referendum.
Salim Ahmad Khan, team leader of the Out of Country Voting System and Implementation (OCV-SDI) initiative for expatriate voter registration, confirmed the information. He stated that efforts are ongoing to ensure all postal ballots reach registered voters abroad by the 10 January.
Data from the Election Commission (EC) indicates a total of 15,33,683 individuals have enrolled using the “Postal Vote BD” mobile app to participate via postal ballot. Among these, 7,61,141 registrations fall under the “In-country postal vote” category, while 7,72,542 are from expatriates living in various nations worldwide.
Salim Ahmad mentioned that electoral symbols will be formally assigned on 21 January, expressing confidence that the postal ballots will be delivered to voters abroad ahead of that date.
Addressing concerns over ballot confidentiality, he emphasised that it is the duty of the expatriate recipients to safeguard the secrecy of their vote. He further cautioned that the national identity cards (NIDs) of individuals found compromising ballot secrecy could face suspension.
EC sources detailed that on Tuesday evening, postal ballots were sent to 41,464 expatriates in different nations. The largest consignment, comprising 17,759 ballots, was destined for Singapore, followed by 12,000 ballots to Saudi Arabia.
